MAUSA Vauban in Neuf-Brisach, France

While we were visiting our pal, Bev, in Freiburg, Germany, I really wanted to head over to the French village of Neuf-Brisach to check out MAUSA Vauban.

This is a street art gallery and museum that’s housed in the ramparts of the city, which were built in the late 1600s and early 1700s as a fortified town in the classic, octagonal shape of the military engineer, Vauban.

The owners of MAUSA – Musée d’art urbain et de street art – have created one of the coolest galleries I’ve ever seen. It’s a network of cave-like rooms, each given to a different artist to paint or do an installation however they see fit. Clementine and her crew invite artists from all over the world to paint here, so most of the rooms are temporary.

So, let’s check out what was on display during our visit!

Christian Guémy aka C215 inside the entrance, with a portrait of Vauban himself.

Denis Meyers, who created his room with ultraviolet light that turns on when you enter, illuminating the whole space.

One of the rooms had some writing that appears to be from people that were imprisoned, hiding, or staying here at one time. Or maybe from the scouts? I really don’t know, so maybe one of you can enlighten me (?).

Et voilà! I highly recommend that any and all of you visit MAUSA Vauban if you’re anywhere near Neuf-Brisach. It’s an extremely cool and interesting modern take on a very old place, and I love that something so historic was repurposed for something so contemporary, yet still retains all of its history.

Check out our other Germany posts right here and our France posts here.

A very special thanks to Bev, and to Clementine at MAUSA Vauban – as well as all the artists – for creating such an amazing experience.